ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States on Thursday announced new sanctions targeting an Iraqi company and bankers it accused of ties to sanctioned militia groups, corruption, and helping Iran evade sanctions.
“Treasury is targeting Iran-backed militia groups responsible for the deaths of U.S. personnel,” Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley said in a press release. “Under Secretary Bessent’s leadership, we are working to dismantle the financial networks that enable these terrorist groups to operate. Cutting off their financial flows is essential to protecting American lives and our national security.”
“The targets today include bankers abusing the Iraqi economy to launder money for Iran and a terrorist front company that provides support and services to Iraqi militia groups. Treasury is also taking action against Iraq-based Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) assets that operate a source network that gathers information, including on U.S. forces,” the Department of the Treasury said.
“The militias actively undermine the Iraqi economy, monopolizing resources through graft and corruption, and hinder the formation of a functioning Iraqi government that would make the region safer,” it added.
It sanctioned Muhandis General Company, which it said is controlled by Kataib Hezbollah, a powerful Iraqi armed group within the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). According to the Treasury, Kataib Hezbollah uses Muhandis General Company to “divert funds from Iraqi government contracts” and smuggles weapons under the cover of an agricultural company, Baladna Agricultural Investments.
Muhandis General Company is named after Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi militia commander who was assassinated by the US alongside IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020. The company has “effectively a mandate to create a miniature PMF-run economy within the broader Iraqi economy,” according to a profile by the Washington Institute.
The US also sanctioned three Iraqi bankers accused of using their positions to “generate revenue and launder money” for Kataib Hezbollah, another Iraqi militia Asaib Ahl al-Haq, and the IRGC. The three are Ali Mohammed Ghulam Hussein al-Anssari, and brothers Ali and Aqeel Meften Khafeef al-Baidani.
“For decades, the Meften brothers have laundered tens of millions of dollars for Iran, and smuggled oil and drugs and abused Aqeel Meften’s position as president of Iraq’s National Olympic Committee to engage in corruption,” the Treasury stated.
The Olympic committee released a statement on Thursday responding to what it called “fake news” seeking to “undermine the committee’s sporting and financial policies”
“We, at the National Olympic Committee, affirm that the committee president is far removed from these untrue allegations. The lies being spread are part of malicious campaigns aimed at undermining the committee's balanced and transparent institutional work,” it said, without mentioning the US Treasury allegations.